Food and Nutrition Assistance Research Database

Project: Using Nudges From Cafeterias and Parents To Encourage Healthy Food Choices at School

Award Year: 2010

Amount of award, fiscal 2010: $175,000.00

Institution: Baylor College of Medicine

Principal Investigator: Karen Cullen

Status: Ongoing

Detailed Objective: This project will develop and test the effectiveness of a school-based intervention based on behavioral economic theory that encourages students to make healthy food choices in the school cafeteria by connecting the cafeteria and the home, via “nudges.” Specifically, participating school cafeterias in Houston, TX, will market targeted healthy foods via messaging and presentations. In addition, foodservice staff will support these marketing efforts by encouraging children’s selection of the targeted foods as the children go through the serving line. Finally, coordinated messages about the lunch menus and targeted foods will be designed for parents and communicated to them via electronic technology (e.g., website, Facebook, Twitter). Researchers will implement the program and evaluate its impact on student daily food selections in 6 intervention school cafeterias with about 4,800 students over an entire school year. Using time series analysis methods, researchers will compare student food choices at intervention schools with those at six matched comparison schools.